Via the Geothermal Energy Association, “Nevada is on-track to be producing more than 1000 megawatts (MW) of geothermal power in the next 3-5 years, a level that would meet roughly 25% of the state’s total power needs, according to a new report from the Geothermal Energy Association (GEA)…The report identifies up to 29 new geothermal power projects now under development in Nevada and finds that new power plants would produce as much as 853 MW”. Click here for the full report (pdf download). Image credit: Destination360

The technique for producing fine cloth and sailcloth from stinging nettles has existed for centuries. Heinrich Kranz is reviving the art for the modern age. Encouraged by a customer to pursue the idea, Kranz founded the firm Stoffkontor Kranz AG, and got rights from the University of Hamburg to grow an oversize version of the common weed. The fiber Kranz produces is a legitimate alternative to cotton, with the advantage that is grows like…well, a weed, without the need for pesticides used in the cotton industry–currently accounting for 24% of the global insecticide usage according to WWF.

Move over, Upton Sinclair and Michael Pollan. Make room for Jeff Tietz, who has written an extraordinary article in Rolling Stone, of all places, about how “America’s top pork producer churns out a sea of waste that has destroyed rivers, killed millions of fish and generated one of the largest fines in EPA history” It is a dire and frightening tale. The first paragraph has perhaps the year’s longest run-on sentence, designed to convey the scale of the industry and the analogy to human beings is stunningly effective.
“Smithfield Foods, the largest and most profitable pork processor in the world, killed 27 million hogs last year. That’s a number worth considering. A slaughter-weight hog is fifty percent heavier than a person. The logistical challenge of processing that many pigs each year is roughly equivalent to butchering and boxing the entire human populations of New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston, Philadelphia, Phoenix, San Antonio, San Diego, Dallas, San Jose, Detroit, Indianapolis, Jacksonville, San Francisco, Columbus, Austin, Memphis, Baltimore, Fort Worth, Charlotte, El Paso, Milwaukee, Seattle, Boston, Denver, Louisville, Washington, D.C., Nashville, Las Vegas, Portland, Oklahoma City and Tucson.”

Via Financial Times:- After several years of deliberation, what is reportedly the world’s oldest newspaper has decided that it will publish only digitally. No more Boreal Forest pulp needed, thank you very much. Indeed, the World Association of Newspapers has deemed the world’s oldest newspaper (formed 1645), to be the Post-och Inrikes Tidningar of Sweden. Although we can’t read Swedish, it appears that the site where the digital version will reside is here . Could this be the destiny of many more newspapers around the world? If so, will we then be burning wood chips to make enough electricity to read them online? Sweden does, after all, have a reputation for doing things green with gusto, as if it were the California of the world. Image credit: Johannes Hjorth (an image apparently based on a practical joke).

Toxic waste. You know it is bad. Must be controlled. But think about this for a second: factories are not built to make waste. Factories make products. Most of the chemicals which go into a factory come out in the products you buy. Furthermore, the product you buy is often a short detour on the path to becoming waste. Did you ever think: who is making certain that the chemicals in the products I buy are safe? Or at least…are made using the least harmful chemicals available to make a product for which the social benefits outweigh the environmental and health risks? This post may not be the most glamorous or interesting on TreeHugger this month. But if you care about these questions, you should read on. Because the most ambitious law ever to address the question of chemicals in modern life is about to hit the books in Europe. Inquiring minds want to know.

Testing the water with one’s toe is the only sure way to know how fine the water really is. For those who are intrigued with solar photovoltaic systems but not ready dive in with a large investment, a DIY kit might be just the ‘toe in’ to provide some personal encouragement. A garage kit is a nice first project because if one did later choose to make the whole-house plunge, it would not have to duplicate what’s in the car port. We’re featuring an example from Baker Environmental, a UK firm, mostly because we liked their simple web site that had a real “man’s garage’ pictured instead of one of those sissy garages in a picture perfect Mega-Mansion. Also, it was nice that they offered an ‘everything-you-need’ kit which does not require a solar-geek friend to assist with installation. Priced at £229.00. Delivery approx. £10 for UK mainland. Next up, we’re looking for an on-line retailer who’ll offer wardrobe assistance for solar geeks with no idea how to pick a coordinated outfit!

At last, an ethanol plant that produces something with more value than the sum of the inputs! Most of the time, the Chippewa Valley Ethanol Company in Benson Minnesota takes local corn and turns it into ethanol for fuel as part of the current ethanol boom. Part of the time, local rye and wheat farmers deliver their produce to distill into one of America’s best vodkas. It is all the same process and the same result; just a different name and a little more distilling. “It’s all about degree of purity,” said Lee [plant manager], who said that making smooth vodka meant distilling the liquid repeatedly to remove unwanted flavors and chemical compounds. “You have some of that in bourbon. You don’t want that in vodka.” The Benson brew is distilled six times, one more than Grey Goose. According to the Washington Post: Benson, marooned in a region where it has proved hard to preserve jobs and morale, appears to be a pint-size success story. The ethanol plant employs 45 full-time workers and plans to nearly double its capacity. ::Washington Post Interesting that there isn’t a peep on the Shakers website that it is made in an industrial ethanol plant. ::Shakers

Shown are the widths of rights-of-way required to move 15,000 people in an hour. The street needs 119 metres (390 feet) while the rail rapid transit needs only 8 metres. (26 feet). Remarkably, the street is at 100% capacity and the rail line is only at 65%. Perhaps our infrastructure investments should not be in highways….From Vuchic’s Transportation for Livable Cities via ::Frumination via ::Kottke

Yahoo! is offering a $50,000 matching grant for the nonprofit which gets the largest number of donations before the end of the year using its new “charity badges“. Our friends at Worldchanging are currently in second place and could use some help. The winner is determined by number of donations, not the final cash amount, and minimum donations are $10 (but only donations from US residents are accepted by Network for Good, and thus counted towards Yahoo’s challenge). If you donate $100 or more, Worldchanging will send you a copy of their book (put “book please” in the “designation” field). For more details on this and to donate: ::Just A Few Days Left to Win the Yahoo! Charity Badge Challenge

Israel has great laws, say lawyers we interviewed here, the problem is enforcing them. A landmark court case, reported here last week, proves that the Israeli Government is clamping down on polluters and protecting one of its only natural resources, the Mediterranean Sea. According to the Ministry of Environmental Protection, polluting companies can expect to pay huge fines for illegal dumping of effluents. Last week, the courts fined Hod Hefer and its manager 120,000 shekels (about $30, 000) for discharging wastewater to the sea without a permit in 2000.